Line connector



1964 w. c. CROSSON 3,

LINE CONNECTOR Filed May 2, 1963 M VE/VT R WILLIAM C. CROSSON 7 By Us.

19 TTOR/VEV! United States Patent 3,161,930 LINE CONNEQTQR Willim C. Crossou, Brackendaie, British Columbia, Canada Filed May 2, 1963, Ser. No. 277,597 Claims. (6!. 24-423) This invention relates to a connector for lines such as cables, ropes and the like.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a line connector having both male and female connecting means adapted to cooperate with the female and male connecting means of similar connectors, and so designed that when attached to lines or cables, both connecting means are always immediately available when any of the ends of two lines are brought together, making it possible immediately to make a connection.

Other objects are the provision of line connectors incorporating swivel means therein, thereby eliminating the necessity of separate swivels for the lines, and which are such that when two connectors are hooked together, there is practically no chance of them coming apart accidentally when the lines are slackened.

Although this connector may be used for many difi'erent purposes, it was designed mainly for use in straw lines used in the logging industry. Such lines are very long, averaging about two thousand feet, and they are made up in comparatively short lengths or sections averaging around two hundred feet in order that they may be handled by men in the woods. Different types of connectors are used for joining these line sections. However, all prior connectors in use are divided into male and female connectors such as, for example, hook and eye arrangements. If, when you got to connect together adjacent ends of two lines stretched out in the woods, you find that you have two male or two female connectors togethers, a lot of time and energy is wasted in reversing one of the long lines. Another disadvantage of the standard connectors is that it is necessary to put special swivels into the straw line to prevent it from twisting, looping, or kinking during use. A further disadvantage of the piror connectors in common use is that the cable sections frequently come unhooked as a result of a loosening of the cable during what is known as throwing slack. This happening to a two thousand foot line in the woods results in many hours of work through the necessity of having to find and fix the break, and having to rethread the cable through widely separated blocks or pulleys.

The present connector is designed so that when the ends of two lines are brought together, you always have female and male connecting means on the two connectors involved so that a connection can always be made. When two of these connectors are hooked together, they also act as swivels eliminating the necessity of special swivels in the line. The connection made between two of these connectors is such that even when the line is subjected to slack and rough handling or jerking during the slack time, it is almost impossible for the connectors to come apart accidentally, and yet they may be quickly and easily secured together and taken apart by hand.

A line connector according to the present invention comprises an elongated body, male connecting means at one end of the body, female connecting means at the opposite end of the body adapted removably to receive and hold the male connecting means of another similar connector, and a swivel passage extending transversely through the body spaced from the ends thereof, said swivel passage being adapted to receive a portion of a connecting loop extending therethrough, whereby the body may be swung around said loop portion selectively to project the male connecting means or female connecting means outwardly from the loop portion.

Patented Dec. 22, 1964 A preferred form of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

FIGURE 1 is an elevation of two line connectors joined together to connect two lines,

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged evelation of the two connectors alone which have been rotated through from the position shown in FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal section through the connectors taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 4 is an elevation of one end of a connector,

FIGURE 5 is an elevation of the opposite end of the connector,

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the same end of the connector as that shown in FIGURE 5,

FIGURE 7 is an elevation of the adjacent ends of two connectors with one in position for the beginning of the connecting operation, and

FIGURE 8 is a view similar to FIGURE 7 with the two connectors at the end of the connecting operation, and showing in broken lines an intermediate position of the connector which is being moved relative to the other.

Referring to the drawings, two identical connectors 16 are shown securing adjacent ends of lines 12 and 13 together. Line 12 has a loop 15 extending through one connector 10, while line 13 has a loop 15 extending through the other connector It but it will be understood that the lines may be secured to their respective connectors in other ways, such as by means of clamps or clevises, parts of which extend through said connectors.

Connector It) comprises an elongated body Zil which may be of any desired cross sectional shape, but preferably is of cylindrical shape, as shown. The connector body has male connecting means 22 at the end 23 thereof, and female connecting means 25 at the opposite end 26 thereof, said opposite end being formed with a bevel 27 around the edge thereof. The female connecting means is adapted removably to receive and hold the male connecting means of another similar connector. A swivel passage 29 extends transversely through body Ztl spaced from the ends thereof, as clearly shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. This passage is adapted to receive a portion of a connecting loop extending therethrough, and in FIG- URE 1, a portion of loop 15 extends through the passage of one connector while a portion of loop 16 extends through the passageof the other connector. If desired, grooves 31 and 32 may be formed in the outer surface of the body 2t) extending longitudinally thereof and com municating respectively with opposite ends of passage 29. When the lines are under strain, portions of loops 15 and 16 lie in grooves 31 and 32 of their respective connectors.

Male connecting means 22 includes a shank 33 extending outwardly from end 23 of body 29, said shank having a head 34 on its outer end. This head is preferably dome shaped and indicated at 35, and has a flat shoulder 36 facing the adjacent end of body 2%. End 23 is generally in the form of a truncated cone having an elongated key 38 projecting from its outer end centrally thereof. This key extends transversely of body Ztl, and is formed by notches 39 and 4th in the conical end 23 on opposite sides of said key. The bottoms 41 and 42 of notches 3? and 4d are preferably inclined across end 23 so that each notch is shallow at one end thereof and gets deeper towards its opposite end.

The female connecting means of the connector comprises a socket 45 formed within body 20 adjacent end 26 thereof, said socket being large enough to receive the head 34 of another similar connector. Socket 45 has an entrance 46 opening laterally from the connector body, said entrance being large enough to permit a head 34 to be moved therethrough into the socket. A slot 48 extends longitudinally of body 20 from the socket to and opens out from the end 26 of said body. This slot is large enough to receive a shank 33 but too small to allow a head 34 to pass therethrough. Slot 48 opens laterally throughout its length from body 29, as indicated at St) in FIGURES 3 and 4, to permit the shank of a head to swing into a position extending longitudinally of the body after said head has been moved through entrance 46 into socket 45. By referring to FIGURE 3, it will be seen that socket 45 and entrance 46 are substantially L-shaped in section, and as passage 48 is narrower than the socket, a stop wall 52 is formed at the end of said socket where the latter joins the passage.

Portions of the loops l5 and 16 extend through the passage 29 of the two connectors. 1d illustrated in the drawings. With this arrangement, each connector may be swivelled around the loop portion to cause either of the connecting means 22 or 25 to project outwardly from its line loop towards the other connector. Thus, one connector is arranged with the end of body 20 carrying connecting means 22 projecting outwardly from its loop, while the other connector is arranged with the body end carrying connecting means 25 projecting outwardly from its loop. As a consequence, it does not matter which end of the cables or lines 12 and 13 are brought together for connection.

FIGURES 7 and 8 illustrate the manner in which the two connectors are brought together. For the sake of convenience, in these figures one connector is designated 10a and the other 1012. In order to make the connection, connectors 10a and 19b are first moved into positions substantially at right angles to each other, as shown in FIGURE 7. The head 34 of connector ltla is moved through entrance 46 into socket of connector lllb. Then connector 16a is swung laterally into a position in line with connector 10b, as shown in FIGURE 8. At this time, shank 33 swings into passage 48, and at the end of this action, shoulder 36 of the head abuts against stop wall 52 at the end of the socket. This action can take place only if connecor 10a is swung in the right direction and with shank 33 aligned with slot 48. In addition to this, it will be seen from the dotted position of connector 10a in FIGURE 8 that shank 33 of this connector is not long enough to clear the adjacent end of said connector from end 26 of connector 19b during the swinging movement. This means that the narrow key .38 of connector 10a must also be aligned with slot 48 so that said key may move through said slot as the connectors are shifted into their aligned positions. This is a safety feature in that when lines 12 and 13 are slack, the two connectors can be parted only when 10a gets into a position at right angles to connector ltlb and the first connector is moved away from the second so that head 34 moves out through entrance 46. However, in order to get into this right angular position, key 38 must be aligned with and pass through slot 48. The chances of all the requirements for parting the connectors being met accidentally are extremely small and so it is practically impossible for the connectors to come apart unless deliberate and proper action is taken to separate them. When the connectors are secured together, shank 33 extends through passage 4-3 and head bears against stop wall 52. At this time, the two connectors are free to rotate axially relative to each other around shank 33. Thus, a swivel connection exists between lines 12 and 13.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A line connector comprising an elongated body, a shank extending outwardly from one end of the body and having a head on its outer end, there being a socket in the body adjacent the opposite end thereof and having a narrow outlet opening out through the latter end, said socket having an entrance opening laterally froma side of the body large enough to permit the head of another similar connector to pass therethrough into the socket, a narrow slot extending from said entrance to said narrow outlet, said slot opening laterally into the socket and outwardly from said body side, said slot and outlet being wide enough to permit the shank of the head of said other connector to pass therethrough but too small for the latter head to move through said slot, and a swivel passage extending transversely through the body and clear of the headed shank and the socket, said passage being adapted to have a portion of a connecting loop extending therethrough without interfering with said shank and socket, whereby the body may be swung around said loop portion to selectively project the head end or socket end of the body outwardly from the loop portion.

2. A line connector comprising an elongated body, a shank extendin outwardly from one end of the body and having a head on its outer end, a socket within the body adjacent the opposite end thereof for receiving the shank head of another similar connector, said socket having an entrance opening laterally from the body and which is large enough to permit the shank head of said other connector to be moved therethrough into the socket, a slot extending from the socket to and opening out from the adjacent body end, said slot being large enough to receive the shank of said other connector but too small to allow the head of the latter shank to pass therethrough, said slot extending from the socket entrance to the adjacent body end and opening laterally throughout its length from the body to permit the shank of said head to swing into a position extending longitudinally of the body after the latter head has been moved through the entrance into the socket, and a swivel passage extending transversely through the body and clear of the socket, said swivel passage being adapted to have a portion of a connecting loop extending therethrough, whereby the body may be swung around said loop portion to selectively project the head end or socket end of the body outwardly from the loop portion.

3. A line connector as claimed in claim 2 including a narrow key projecting from and extending across the shank end of the body at and in line with the shank er- I tending from said end, said key being narrow enough to pass through the slot of the similar connector when said shank is being moved into or out of said slot.

4. A line connector as claimed in claim 2 including spaced notches in and extending across the end of the body from which the shank projects and on opposite sides of said shank, said notches forming therebetween a key projecting from and extending across the shank end of the body in line with the shank, said key being narrow enough to pass through the slot of the similar connector when said shank is being moved into or out of said slot.

5. A line connector as claimed in claim 4 in which the notches have bottoms inclined across the body end, whereby each notch is shallow at one end and gets deeper towards the opposite end thereof.

References tilted by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 826,707 7/06 Brent 287103 1,265,778 5/ 18 Hartline. 2,518,276 8/50 Brawand 24--123.l 2,714,269 8/55 Charles 24116.l 2,998,990 9/61 Plattsmier et al. 287l03 FOREIGN PATENTS 67,926 10/57 France. 1,015,372 9/52 France.

217,730 10/58 Australia.

DONLEY I. STOCKING, Primary Examiner. 

1. A LINE CONNECTOR COMPRISING AN ELONGATED BODY, A SHANK EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM ONE END OF THE BODY AND HAVING A HEAD ON ITS OUTER END, THERE BEING A SOCKET IN THE BODY ADJACENT THE OPPOSITE END THEREOF AND HAVING A NARROW OUTLET OPENING OUT THROUGH THE LATTER END, SAID SOCKET HAVING AN ENTRANCE OPENING LATERALLY FROM A SIDE OF THE BODY LARGE ENOUGH TO PERMIT THE HEAD OF ANOTHER SIMILAR CONNECTOR TO PASS THERETHROUGH INTO THE SOCKET, A NARROW SLOT EXTENDING FROM SAID ENTRANCE TO SAID NARROW OUTLET, SAID SLOT OPENING LATERALLY INTO THE SOCKET AND OUTWARDLY FROM SAID BODY SIDE, SAID SLOT AND OUTLET BEING WIDE ENOUGH TO PERMIT THE SHANK OF THE HEAD OF SAID OTHER CONNECTOR TO PASS THERETHROUGH BUT TOO SMALL FOR THE LATTER HEAD TO MOVE THROUGH SAID SLOT, AND A SWIVEL PASSAGE EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY THROUGH THE BODY AND CLEAR OF THE HEADED SHANK AND THE SOCKET, SAID PASSAGE BEING ADAPTED TO HAVE A PORTION OF A CONNECTING LOOP EXTENDING THERETHROUGH WITHOUT INTERFERING WITH SAID SHANK AND SOCKET, WHEREBY THE BODY MAY BE SWUNG AROUND SAID LOOP PORTION TO SELECTIVELY PROJECT THE HEAD END OR SOCKET END OF THE BODY OUTWARDLY FROM THE LOOP PORTION. 